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She clapped her hands and laughed with glee. “Oh, you just wait, Beckett. I’ll find your perfect match! You won’t regret this!”
I was pretty sure I already did, but Iola had already made it clear she was determined, and she was not a woman to be deterred. I might as well embrace it as a way to move on. After all, it was better to go on a few bad dates I regretted than to implode my life by trying to attain the impossible with Wes.
CHAPTER5
WES
I was half-starvedby the time we got to our parents’ place. Beckett and I had to shower and change before we were suitable for any kind of company, much less a dinner where we were sure to be grilled mercilessly.
I’d nearly made a fool of myself a second time when Beckett walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, transporting me straight back to the hotel room and the moment I’d tugged his towel off and bared his body to me. That day, he’d looked a little shocked, but in a good way, as if he couldn’t believe his luck.
Now, as we prepared to walk into the lion’s den at our parents’ house, he barely looked at me.
I couldn’t stand it, so I stopped him on the wide front porch. Behind us, the beautifully landscaped yard was a testament to our father’s business. Azaleas blooming with delicate pink petals framed the front of the house. Beautiful sprays of lavender, intermingled with bright yellow lilies, lined the front walk.
The flowers’ perfume hung in the air, but I moved in close enough to smell Beckett, a clean, masculine spice that made me want to bury my nose in his neck and just breathe.
“Listen, man, before we go in there…”
His eyes met mine, full of worry. “Yeah?”
“Everything’s going to be okay as long as we have each other’s backs. Just like always, okay?”
He exhaled and shook out his hands as if trying to loosen up before a fight. But with any luck, there would be no punches thrown.
“Do you trust me?” I asked him.
“You know I do, but—”
“No buts,” I cut in. “We’re in this together, and as long as we stick together, we’re going to be fine. But we can’t let this come between us, okay, Beck?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“We’re bros first,” I said, holding out my fist for a bump.
I’d rather hug him, brush a thumb over the arch of his cheekbone, taste those soft lips again. But these were precarious times, and I had to consider what Beck needed right now. The urge to touch him, to pull him closer, might never fade. I’d have to learn how to resist that instinct. But the urge to protect him? That wasn’t going any-fucking-where, and it was the one thing I could do right.
Beckett tapped knuckles with me, a small smile on his face that felt like a victory.
The door opened, and my little sister, Andi, stood framed in the doorway. “Are you two dorks going to stand out there all night?”
“If only we could,” Beckett muttered before pushing past her to go inside.
Andi fixed her wide eyes on me. She looked innocent, but she was far from it. A wicked grin overtook her face. “You are in so much trouble. I can’t wait to watch this trainwreck.”
“Thanks for the support, sis.” I wrapped an arm around her and messed up her hair.
“Hey, stop it!” She fought my hold, but she was no match for me, and I’d made a rat’s nest of her blond hair before she escaped. “You’re a brat!”
“No, you’re a brat,” I said, always ready with a witty comeback.
“Seriously, though, Dad is mad,” she whispered. “Tread carefully tonight.”
“I will. Where’s your worse half?”
She pulled a face. “He said he’d already had plenty of the Wes-Beckett show today. He was pretty surly after work. What did you guys say to him?”
I shrugged. “We just made him do his job. If he doesn’t like it, he can quit.”
